- 2026-06-16 “Thank you very much. Marilena and I will speak in Portuguese. I would like to thank the presidency for the excellent work they've done and for presenting the negotiating box. It is a move in the right direction, especially because it respects the fundamental elements of the treaty, notably when it comes to Asian policy, a modernised one. And these are things which have to be taken into account if we want to achieve a end result which is balanced and fair. Now there are still some issues which will have to be taken into account. One of them, which is absolutely essential, is linked to the outermost regions. They are a very important geopolitical asset for the EU. In article 349 of the treaty, you have provisions there. There should be additional specific amounts for agriculture and cohesion. Now progress has been made in implementing work on the PP, but there are some aspects which we need to look at in further detail. We need to look at all the general implementing conditions, pre-financing co-financing rates and rules for cancellations. It's also important for Portugal that we have a hybrid approach, which ensures the coexistence of a non-associated financing model not associated to costs. That is. So you have to have objectives and you need to look at real costs as well. Now we think it's imperative that we ensure that we have a balance in the MFF between expenditure and income. New own resources are essential if we want to have an ambitious agreement which can meet the EU's challenges. We remain available to go into further detail in discussions on all options. When it comes to the rebates we are against them being discussed. The MFF was conceived by the Commission rightly to not take into account any rebates and they don't make sense if you have a modernised MFF. Now, only at the end of this negotiating exercise will we know what the real efforts will be, which each Member State will have to make in line with that? G and I, and only at that point will we know what share of own resources will have to be taken into account when you have the final result. Thank you.”
Funding for OCTs and outermost regions
- 2026-06-16 “Thank you. Marielena. I will speak in Portuguese. So we welcome the results achieved by the Cyprus presidency, which enables us to move forward towards achieving. The general partial general approach is within the context of the global package. When it comes to the partnership plans, we think that progress has been made there, and we'd like to highlight a number of areas in which progress has been made, notably when it comes to flexibility of responses to crises. Provisions related to the C, A, P and the conditions for implementation in outermost regions. When it comes to the European Competitiveness Fund, the text has moved in a positive direction, ensuring that Excellency will be promoted in an inclusive way throughout the EU, avoiding excessive concentration of funding. And then, when it comes to the Global Europe programme, Portugal supports the presidency's commitment to have a partial general approach, improving the general balance of the instrument and ensuring an appropriate level of ambition. However, Portugal will present a statement in line with the fact that it does not agree when it comes to the reference to innovative solutions, and that is something we've maintained throughout the negotiations. That position. Thank you.”
EU competences on foreign affairs
- “Thank you, chair. Portugal welcomes the overall objectives and supports strengthening ENISA's capabilities and improving European cybersecurity certification framework, particularly through more agile and efficient certification processes that avoid unnecessary bottlenecks.
We also acknowledge the importance of a harmonized approach to ICT supply chain security, including risk assessments, ratification of critical ICT assets and high-risk suppliers, and development of effective mitigation measures across the union. At the same time, further work is still needed to ensure an appropriate balance between enhanced European coordination and the competencies of member states.
In particular, ENISA's operational role should remain complementary and not overlap with the responsibilities of national competent authorities under the existing legal framework. National Cybersecurity Certification Authority should also have a stronger role in the development and maintenance of European certification schemes while avoiding disproportionate financial or administrative burdens for citizens and organizations.
Finally, decisions related to cybersecurity risk assessments, high-risk suppliers, and ICT supply chain measures should continue to ensure a central role for member states. Portugal remains fully committed to working constructively towards more balanced compromise solutions on this package. Thank you.”
Scope of EU cybersecurity obligations
- “Dear colleagues, Commissioner, dear Minister Damiano, I will focus on your second and third questions. Governance. And I would have the strategic planning process, the interlinkages between Fp10, namely between policy windows in pillar two and the European Competitiveness Fund need to be clear cut, preserving the autonomy and the role of Horizon Europe in generating new knowledge, curiosity driven and disruptive innovation. A landmark and the competitiveness advantage of Europe and at the same time guaranteeing the investment journey. In this regard, a governance that respects the specificities of R&D and knowledge creation needs to be ensured. In addition, co-creation and co-design must remain at the core of any priority setting mechanisms to be implemented. Meaningful involvement of Member States at appropriate level is needed if one considers the possibility of Member States providing additional funding or securing co-funding for specific actions. And this brings me to the to my second point, Partnerships. Coordination involving member states, participation in the definition and selection of future of a future partnerships portfolio must be a non-negotiable, negotiable principle, and this will require, in many cases, national, regional and private sector co-funding to be mobilised. Partnerships should be should receive funding from the ECF in alignment with the thematics of policy windows.”
EU-level coordination of research agendas
- “Thank you. Chair Portugal supported this AOB because we consider that governance and strategic priorities are critical issues we need to solve. As I have already mentioned in my previous intervention, without clarity on strategic steering, priority setting and respective roles, delegations will not be able to move forward with confidence, regardless of the position that member states may have on governance. When it comes to the interlinkage between Horizon Europe and ECF. The definition of priorities and strategic planning within R&D is a fundamentally unresolved issue that necessarily needs to be debated and cannot remain hostage to a high level steering mechanism and the competitiveness coordination tool, whose process we are yet unaware of. Thank you.”
Research priorities within the EU · EU-level coordination of research agendas
- “Thank you, Peter. I'd like to start by thanking you for putting this point on the agenda. And I'd also like to thank the Commission for presenting the proposed revision of the Pollinators Initiative. We can support it. And when it comes to our national strategic plan, we have adopted measures to implement, to implement the measures in the Farm to Fork strategy [00:33:00] and the Birds and Habitats directives. We have two concerns. First of all, the mechanisms to monitor pollinating species on the ground. We need to implement a system that is reliable in order to attain the objectives of the initiative. My second question relates to the draft Regulation on Nature restoration [00:33:30] and the provisions for limiting the use of plant protection products and pesticides. Now, this might have a negative impact on agricultural production. We're talking about areas about 20% of our productive land which will be affected. And this might give rise to people leaving the sector and a rural exodus, and this would also increase the fire risk. [00:34:00] And it would lead to deterioration of our habitats. So we need to look at other alternatives to protect plants. Innovative solutions that allow us to reconcile environmental objectives with climate objectives, the cap and production objectives. Thank you.”
Nature protection and restoration in the EU
- “Thank you very much, chair. The upcoming EU work plan for culture should be selective and operational and fundamentally politically useful. We need to have specific priorities that can guide effective work between member states and yield visible results for the public and for cultural and creative sectors.
Portugal sees 5 priorities. Firstly, the relationship between young people and culture. It's vital that we bring culture into the everyday lives of our new generations, strengthening cultural participation through education, reading, mobility, contemporary creation, and youth led initiatives.
Secondly, working conditions for artists and culture professionals. Europe should continue moving forward in coordination when it comes to artist statutes, social protection, mobility, and fair pay, including in digital settings. Structural precarity in the sector cannot continue to be seen as inevitable.
Thirdly, inclusive access to culture. We need to bring down physical, digital, economic, and communicational barriers, ensuring that cultural participation also reaches low density territories, outermost regions, people with a disability, and the most vulnerable. Libraries, museums, archives, theaters, and cultural centers should all be seen as democratic spaces that are close to the public.
Fourthly, strategic investment in culture and innovative funding models. Europe should foster sustainable mechanisms for cultural investment, including mixed financing, responsible partnerships between public and private sectors, and instruments that strengthen cultural ecosystems without jeopardizing artistic independence or creating further territorial imbalances.
Fifth, AI and its impact on culture in the cultural and creative sectors. The digital trans position means that we need to carry out coordinated thinking amongst, on, copyright pay, on cultural diversity, and transparency and use of works for AI training systems, we just heard about also. Technological innovation should go hand in hand with effective protection of human creativity.
Portugal also believes it's vital to continue work that's already underway in areas such as cultural participation and democracy, pluralism, and defense of European values of individual, freedoms and creative freedoms as Germany has just mentioned, as well as the digital transformation, cultural statistics, the role of culture in unions foreign relations.
We believe that cultural rights should be acknowledged as a cross cutting dimension of European policies and that culture can play a stronger role in territorial cohesion, but above all, in rural and low density territories.
Last but not least, Portugal wishes to see an ambitious European working plan that can be enforced and is strategic close to the people and above all that can iterate culture as a real structural dimension for European democracy.”
EU and national cultural identities
- “Dear colleagues, Commissioner, dear Minister Damiano, I will focus on your second and third questions. Governance. And I would have the strategic planning process, the interlinkages between Fp10, namely between policy windows in pillar two and the European Competitiveness Fund need to be clear cut, preserving the autonomy and the role of Horizon Europe in generating new knowledge, curiosity driven and disruptive innovation. A landmark and the competitiveness advantage of Europe and at the same time guaranteeing the investment journey. In this regard, a governance that respects the specificities of R&D and knowledge creation needs to be ensured. In addition, co-creation and co-design must remain at the core of any priority setting mechanisms to be implemented. Meaningful involvement of Member States at appropriate level is needed if one considers the possibility of Member States providing additional funding or securing co-funding for specific actions. And this brings me to the to my second point, Partnerships. Coordination involving member states, participation in the definition and selection of future of a future partnerships portfolio must be a non-negotiable, negotiable principle, and this will require, in many cases, national, regional and private sector co-funding to be mobilised. Partnerships should be should receive funding from the ECF in alignment with the thematics of policy windows.”
EU research funding
- “Thank you, Chair. Portugal aligns itself with the non paper jointly presented with Finland, The Netherlands, Sweden, France and Poland, and would like to highlight the following priorities. The first one is that the European standardization system faces structural challenges that need to be addressed, notably the early involvement of the ESOs in the process, the establishment of realistic timelines and the consideration of transitional solutions pending the availability of harmonized standards. Second is that digitalization should constitute a generally overarching dimension of the European Product Act. We consider the entry of noncompliant products via e commerce from third countries to be a source of concern. In this context, it is important to strengthen the obligations of online platforms. I won't mention, but you know which ones I address, and to consider the introduction of mandatory accreditation requirements. We look forward to a commission proposal that is both ambitious and proportionate with particular attention to the impact on SMEs.”
Liability for online marketplaces
- “Commissioner. Ministers. As is well known. The whole of society for many decades now has been dealing with a number of challenges which have been multiplying in terms of the breakdown of the family, [00:11:30] diversification of the population, and women being able to exercise their rights to work. As well as having access to public life. Over the past few decades, there have been many obstacles to women in public life in Portugal. Firstly, their access to the labour market and also um education. However, district to women's involvement in decision making bodies via their participation in public life still needs to be improved, although improvements have been made in the other areas. Having a balance between men and women on decision making bodies at political level. Is a logical consequence of our constitutional right [00:12:30] to equality. After the decade following the revolutions in 1974, when the dictatorship ended in Portugal, women's access to the parliament was very small indeed. Less than 7% of the MPs were women. Nowadays [00:13:00] it still remains quite low, but it has increased to 21% of the total. It was only in 2006 with the equality law that. We saw a significant increase from this 21% in 2005 to 32% by 2015. And [00:13:30] we brought a new legislation to foster this. And in 2019, in spite of a new draft piece of legislation to bring the minimum threshold, up to 40% of women on decision making political bodies, unfortunately, this threshold has never been achieved. These figures demonstrate that. Although progress has [00:14:00] been made compared to the past. An action has been taken to achieve equality. We still have a long way to go to achieve effective equality. Once again, I would like to flag up a point which we are proud of. I am a member of a new government which in 50 years of democracy is the most equal in terms of gender equality. There [00:14:30] are 24 women in total. Out of 59 members. That gives us a 40.6% participation rate. So finally, we've achieved this quota with the new government on the EU's draft. We believe that we need to continue working and doing even more and to do better to promote a gender balance. In [00:15:00] political, public and economic life. As we had for women on company boards. The EU needs to encourage the member states to approve a European act to promote equality between men and women in public, political and economic life as well.”
Gender roles, equality and inclusion
- “Thank you, Luis. Again, thank you for putting this on the agenda today. Congratulations for the commitment you've taken that you're going to work for conclusions by the end of your presidency. Now, [00:17:30] we've had two years since the vision was presented for the first time. We've had a lot of political debate in the Sierra, in Parliament and here, and therefore now it's a good time to take stock of what's happened and being implemented. The rural pact meeting last May in Sweden was important too, and the high level forum on Rural policy on the definition of policy under your presidency and commission at [00:18:00] the end of this month. That's another important moment to build on. We want a more sustainable agriculture where there's innovative, technology driven, competitive that can make for a long term vision for our rural areas. We've put forward two proposals for priorities with that in mind. We did that in writing to the President of the Commission as part of our wish list for the 2024 Commission proposal. As I said, based on [00:18:30] my government's views, we need better digital and technology connectivity to modernize and boost competitiveness in our rural areas and in agriculture generally, particularly the Digital Rural Act. We called for. And secondly was about a strategic plan to build resilience for our aquatic areas and water availability. We call it re water. You in our document, which we think should be part [00:19:00] of the agenda. This should be priorities in the live programme in Horizon and so on across the board. All member states can contribute together towards this vision. As the rural pact lays down, as the European plan lays out, the Cap has a number of instruments which allow us to contribute to this vision. But you have to use the opportunities and seize the ones which all our policies together offer across [00:19:30] the board during this period. There's a strategic plan, but there's the Cohesion Fund and the Recovery and Resilience Programmes. In Portugal, there's an Innovation 2030 for Agriculture programme which tries to take a holistic approach based on our European and international priorities. Thank you.”
Digital and precision farming
- “Commissioner. Ministers and dear colleagues. Portugal is committed to adopting this draft directive. It is an essential pillar [00:17:30] on which we can build an EU based on equality, and it adds to the legislative framework which combats discrimination that the EU has at its disposal. So I'm pleased with the work that has been done, the tireless efforts of the Belgian presidency on this file, and I would like to state my support for the latest version of the text. The right to non-discrimination is a fundamental right, which is sanctioned in the EU's treaties and the [00:18:00] EU's Fundamental Rights Charter, and this pillar needs to be fully integrated into our legislation, because all EU citizens should have the right to be full members of society and to benefit from equal opportunities. Moving forward with this anti-discrimination directive. Is important. If we want to combat all forms of discrimination in the European Union, it will contribute to. [00:18:30] The anti-discrimination strategy of the European Union. So this measure. Can be applied irrespective of religion, belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. This needs to be applied so that there is no more discrimination of any kind. Thank you.”
EU policy on integration and ethnic, racial and religious discrimination
- “Thank you David. Just to support this proposal presented by Germany on country of origin labelling of foodstuffs. Where the country of origin is very clear. We think the labels need to be simple, they need to be clear, [00:04:00] and they have to meet the intention, the expectations and the concerns of consumers. We think that regulation should provide information and ensure that consumers can make conscious choices about what they buy, where the origin of their products, where they were produced, is clear to them, and [00:04:30] that would ensure that in the value chain, agriculture wouldn't be the loser. As is so often the case. Thank you.”
Food labelling harmonisation at EU level
- “Thank you. Chair. Dear colleagues, Portugal welcomes the Commission's approach to industrial emergency planning and the follow up of the Steel and Metals, Chemicals and Automotive Action Plans under the Clean Industrial Deal. We agree that the direction is right. What now matters is implementation, coherence and balance across the value chain on steel and metals. The action plan provides an adequate framework to address key structural challenges energy costs, carbon leakage, raw materials security and the global overcapacity. But delivery must now accelerate. Strategic projects still face slow permitting and financing constraints. The measures under resource EU and the Future European Competitiveness Fund must translate into rapid and tangible support. Access to clean, secure and competitive energy is essential and commonly agreed. Portugal also underlines the importance of circularity. As it was mentioned previously, Scrap is a strategic secondary raw material and the internal market must function efficiently and predictably. We support strengthening the Europe's steel sector. At the same time, as mentioned by Sweden, attention must be paid to impacts along the value chain when higher raw material costs are not matched by equivalent conditions. For steel intensive, transformed products that enter the EU market, competitive asymmetries may arise, particularly for SMEs and export oriented manufactured.”
Sourcing of critical raw materials
- “Thank you very much, chairman. I would like to start off by thanking the presidency for having put this very important matter on the agenda for the Council. Now, this has come amidst intense efforts to eradicate forced labour and to promote due diligence by companies when it comes to sustainability throughout the value chain. We want this regulation to apply in a consistent and harmonised way throughout the European Union, and we think the draft regulation has developed in a positive manner, and in general terms, it's in line with what we have wanted. Now we're talking about a strengthened coordinating role for the commission. This is essential when it comes to looking or monitoring forced labour products. Now, when it comes to the investigation procedures and risk based controls, taking into account proportionality, this is all extremely important. We feel that the Commission should be actively involved in coordinating the various phases of the investigation in order to ensure that we have a proper balance between the internal and external dimensions of the matter. At this phase in the discussions, we still do have some concerns. Cooperation between national authorities, as well as cooperation with counterparts in other member states, which authorities would be responsible for checking that the legal requirements have been met throughout the supply chain. We also need to look at the whole process for withdrawing products, which are made by forced labour, and we should ensure that we do not have a disproportionate burden on companies, especially SMEs. Thank you very much.”
Due diligence in supply chains (environmental and human rights)
- “Rather, we need to make sure that, uh, scaleups and, uh, less developed and peripheral regions can also take part. Now moving on to the second question. Smes need to be able to, um, get through the whole stage of their development. Uh, and, uh, so they need proper predictability throughout all stages of their development. That's very important. And, um, they need to go from research to expansion and industrialization, and that requires a long term vision. So it's very important that, uh, that they have access to the Horizon Europe programme and that we avoid duplication, duplications and financing instruments need to be sufficiently flexible so that we can, uh, so that these SMEs can reach maturity. National development banks also are very important given the fact that they know the local ecosystem. They're essential as well, um, because they're close to SMEs and they can help to unlock investment. Furthermore, we need investment. Catalyse public funds need to be used as a catalyst for private investment. And fifthly, supporting SMEs and simplifying simplification, which is in the FFC rulebook, needs to allow us to have a better context for SMEs.”
- “Thank you very much for the floor, Madam Chair. Setting an ambitious target for 2040, together with a sound legislative framework for after 2030 is going to be essential for the next legislative period and the revision of the European Union's Nationally determined Contribution. The European Union should continue to lead by example. We know how important this leadership is given the given the results obtained at Cop 29 when it comes to mitigation. Now, in spite of progress already made, more robust measures will need to take account of the situation in all sectors that are included in the legislative framework, which would guarantee regulatory predictability, all the while retaining industrial competitiveness. In this context, it's going to be very important to face and overcome the challenges as regards implementation of the fit for 55 package. These five years should, in our opinion, focus on the implementation of the regulatory framework that has been agreed upon reducing administrative burden, simplifying processes. These are key points without compromising the level of ambition for the commitments made in energy. Um. It's important to speed up licensing procedures for renewable energy projects, all the while retaining the spirit of the European internal market, with special attention being paid to energy and electricity interconnections, reinforcing the point that renewable energies should be an engine for this transition. Public and private investments are important here, though it's important to look at this through the various instruments available now. The success of the fit for 55 package and the post 2030 legislative framework will depend on active, cohesive participation of all interested parties, retaining the importance of the social dimension. Now, the fight against energy poverty is something we attach a great deal of importance to. We've set up a plan in order to minimise energy poverty when it comes to buildings as well as transport. A climate and energy transition which is successful does need to be to be underpinned by measures taken at European level, but it also needs to be a socially just transition, because only in this way can we have the necessary conditions in place for an effective and fair and just future of Europe. Thank you.”
Energy (green transition)
- “Thank you. Chair. Share. Portugal believes that the latest European initiatives including the Competitive Compass, the Clean Industrial Deal and the already published sectoral Action Plans, are moving in a positive direction towards achieving the European objectives of decarbonisation and competitiveness. However, this action must be reinforced to respond to the immediate needs of traditional strong industries, while at the same time ensuring the EU's economic, social and territorial cohesion in the pursuit of industrial leadership. This reinforced action must be differentiated around three central axes. The first one immediate action for affordable energy reinforcing these industries in the global competitiveness. The second, a focus on green hydrogen with hydrogen production and distribution infrastructures, and carbon capture, utilisation and storage. This action is essential for sectors where total decarbonisation Organization is not technically feasible in the short term at the. At the same time, we must complete the European Energy Union by continuing to expand electricity grids and modernize and increase interconnections. Third and last, creating incentives for investment in innovation and research and in infrastructure infrastructure, and promoting clear and certain fiscal and regulatory frameworks. The three sectors identified in the presidency note, as well as those from the energy intensive industries, should receive a differentiated, pragmatic and result oriented approach.”
Energy (green transition)
- “Thank you very much. Luis. I wanted to start by thanking the commission for presenting the proposed review of the regulation. I [00:22:00] also wanted to. Say that we think it's fundamental that this review. Take account of all of the experience acquired by Member states when it comes to the transport of animals, as well as the latest technical and scientific knowledge in the domain. I also wanted to highlight the need to take account of each member state's geographic location and the specificities related thereto. [00:22:30] We are pleased with the presentation of new technological aspects, which will make it possible to simplify the procedures and controls, and will result in many of the existing procedures being improved when it comes to the transport of live animals. I thank you.”
EU requirements on animal welfare for farmers
- “Ladies and gentlemen, Portugal would like to thank Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for tabling this important point. Connecting Europe has played an important role in funding transport links. We think it's essential that CEF should continue in the next MFF with an adequate budget to cover objectives such as decarbonisation. Cef is intended to allow for cross-border links, and it also covers dual use aspects and military mobility. And I think that it should be used in close contact with the military. Military. So we think it's very important for Portugal. There are two high speed lines linking us with Spain. We think it's essential to increase the level of funding for the implementation of the Ten-t regulation. Thank you.”
Energy (green transition)
- “Mr. chair, dear Nicodemus, Commissioner, colleagues, let me start by thanking the presidency for its hard work for a stronger European Union. On priority setting, we must first recognize the central role of science and knowledge creation in the definition of the relationship between the Horizon Europe and European Competitiveness Fund. While the challenges facing Europe require strategic top down priorities in key areas that should be addressed through ECF policy windows, it is equally important to safeguard curiosity driven research and maintain strong instruments for bottom up R&D. This balance should be reflected in the governance model of ECF and horizon R&D are essential to the competitiveness of Europe security, resilience and citizens well-being. R&d must therefore be placed at the centre of the future. Ecf Europe will not be able to meet its increasingly complex challenges without stronger and more effective R&D policies. Second, co-creation and co-design must remain fundamental principles for any future coordination mechanisms. Member states should be engaged prior to the Comitology process, given their role in co-funding European partnerships and other actions. Their participation is also crucial for fostering greater alignment between national R&D strategies and the Next framework programme, thereby enhancing the effectiveness and coherence of both the European Union and national policies in Portugal, we are implementing a comprehensive and deep reform of our R&D system, engaging stakeholders from across the ecosystem to ensure a better alignment with the EU Framework Programme on widening Portugal reiterates the need for a consistent and fair phase out process for countries that have driven national reforms and investments, making significant efforts to accelerate convergence with within the European Union. We advocate for a transition pathway rather than a simplistic and abrupt exclusion. Access to all instruments with tailored criteria is an option. Dedicated measures for transition countries is another. In this sense, the regulation must remain flexible and establish a monitoring process on the convergence of widening countries. Finally, on. On bottom up, large scale collaborative research, we recognise the importance of strengthening Europe's scientific excellence and collaborative R&D. However, before introducing a new instrument, we need greater clarity on budgetary impact and accessibility for emerging centres of excellence. Thank you very much.”
Research priorities within the EU
- “Thank you very much, chair. Portugal welcomes the Commission's discussions on the recycling sector. We recognise its essential role in transitioning to a more circular economy. This is a relevant sector where small and medium enterprises play a very significant role, both in economic activity and in creating jobs linked to circularity. These businesses still, however, face real obstacles with high energy costs, volatility of prices of recycled materials, and limited demand for primary raw materials. There is fragility in the financing system and in the markets. In Portugal, we are preparing a review of the circular economy plan for 2030, and we are also launching our Earth plan and a plan for critical raw materials. As measures aimed towards ensuring the whole supply chain, the whole value chain is ensured. We are having industrial dialogue on circularity and the work on the European Circular law, circular economy law, and we are prepared to work with the Commission in a participatory approach, including businesses, particularly SMEs, to ensure that the European ambition for the circular economy becomes a true ambition. Thank you.”
Energy (green transition)
- “Thank you. Chair. Dear colleagues, Portugal welcomes the Commission's approach to industrial emergency planning and the follow up of the Steel and Metals, Chemicals and Automotive Action Plans under the Clean Industrial Deal. We agree that the direction is right. What now matters is implementation, coherence and balance across the value chain on steel and metals. The action plan provides an adequate framework to address key structural challenges energy costs, carbon leakage, raw materials security and the global overcapacity. But delivery must now accelerate. Strategic projects still face slow permitting and financing constraints. The measures under resource EU and the Future European Competitiveness Fund must translate into rapid and tangible support. Access to clean, secure and competitive energy is essential and commonly agreed. Portugal also underlines the importance of circularity. As it was mentioned previously, Scrap is a strategic secondary raw material and the internal market must function efficiently and predictably. We support strengthening the Europe's steel sector. At the same time, as mentioned by Sweden, attention must be paid to impacts along the value chain when higher raw material costs are not matched by equivalent conditions. For steel intensive, transformed products that enter the EU market, competitive asymmetries may arise, particularly for SMEs and export oriented manufactured.”
Sourcing of critical raw materials
- “Thank you very much, Madam Chair, commissioners and colleagues, looking at the debate that we had in Cyprus during the informal Ebsco meeting. Portugal welcomes the opportunity that we have of having a deeper debate on how to break into poverty cycle by using enabling services and activation services, which are centred in the people. First question. Portugal is strengthening an integrated approach which has social, labour, education and education policies. The Portuguese Strategy Against Fighting Poverty 2021 2030 is our main framework and includes more than 270 measures which focus on priorities such as reducing child poverty, integrating young adults and strengthening work and qualifications including vulnerable groups as well as territorial cohesion. Looking at specific measures, we are going to be increasing the number of daycare that will be having, uh, free enrollment, which already includes 120,000 children and bolstering the offer of pre school education by recognizing the important role of these policies when it comes to fighting poverty. We have also looked to develop tools which strengthen the link between social protection and activation vis a vis work, such as the national program of the social labour market and other specific programs. At the same time, we are looking at models which are more integrated and integrated, which allow people to access their rights and their services. One matter was. A model that is person centric, and this model promotes autonomy and fights against exclusion, and ensures that social services go hand in hand with the healthcare services, which were can in hand seven days a week.”
Child poverty policy
- “I think that the call was unmistakable. We must anchor our competitiveness strategy in people skills, social dialogue and quality jobs. Quality employment must be a shared ambition, built on fair pay, safe and healthy working conditions, equal opportunities and strong social protection. We also emphasized the importance of the union of skills of fair and effective labor mobility and the urgent need to intensify the fight against poverty and social exclusion throughout the EU. Anti-poverty strategy and the strengthened European Child Guarantee. A central message from Porto is that implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights, through a revised and ambitious action plan, is essential to ensuring that no one is left behind as Europe advances its green digital and demographic transitions. Colleagues, this is not only a social agenda, it is Europe's economic strategy for a resilient, cohesive and competitive union. Portugal stands ready to work closely with all member states the European Parliament, the European Commission as well as social partners and civil society To ensure that the outcomes of the Porto Social Forum feed meaningfully into the forthcoming initiatives, from the Quality Jobs Roadmap to the Future Pillar Action Plan. Together, we can ensure that Europe's competitiveness truly serves the people. Thank you.”
European Semester (social dimension)
- “Deputy president. Thank you very much indeed. Chair, we welcome the Commission's efforts and the Member States efforts and the efforts of the European Agency as well and other EU bodies in order to make progress when it comes to implementing the strategy. We believe that the measures set out in the strategy are the right ones. In order to meet the challenges we face and achieve our goals, which have been set out in the strategy. We want to protect our health and the environment. We need to protect industry as well and make sure that we have predictability. We need to implement and make the strategy as concrete as possible quickly. There are some things which have not yet fully been implemented. So therefore it is very important to review the reach regulation. That's the central thing which we need to get to grips with. We believe that our efforts generally need to be reduced. We need to set priorities and we need measures for more innovation. We need sustainable alternatives for the substances of particular concern. And we need to assess risks where there is extra danger. We also support the initiatives which try to make sure that compensation mechanisms are being created. We need single assessments as well. We need to support SMEs, and we need to assess risks for human health and risks to the environment. It's also important to make sure this strategy is fully implemented in conjunction with the regulation on Echa. It's important that there is no extra administrative burden, which would throw up extra costs, and which may mean that the various measures are not implemented equally. Then on the different measures. If the updates to the strategy are made, that would be a good thing. And let me say finally, that we will do everything that we can in order to make sure that this strategy is implemented successfully. Thank you very much indeed.”
Chemicals regulation
- “Thank you. Good morning. Well, just three short notes. Um, the level, the level playing field has to exist, uh, inside the European Union among, uh, 27, but also outside the EU with our main competitors. Second, we have to look at geographical position and countries, which is also the case of Portugal, but not alone, where, uh, some kinds of travel or some ways of travel are basically, um, the most important ones. Uh, and everyone wants to reach a country like Portugal and obviously as Greece or Malta or even others. Um, you basically came by train or in the case of goods, it came, it came by shipping. So geographical positions have to be considered. The third point is technology. All these changes are only possible if technology evolves, and if we find ways of using energy in a more sustainable manner. And this is particularly in the case of agriculture and forestry. So we support the review clause for 2035. Thank you.”
EU transport infrastructure integration · 2035 ICE phase-out: strict zero-emission target vs. flexibility for carmakers
- “Thank you very much, president. We support the point presented by Czechia and the other colleagues. There is an urgent need to implement these measures by the Commission. Obviously, limiting ourselves to the substances that are allowed in the European Union. We can't continue reducing these Is substances without finding alternative products that need to be accessible and affordable. And I'd like to underscore this point. On the other hand, we accept the import of agricultural products from third countries that are not subject to these limitations. So nobody can explain this to a farmer who cannot use a certain protective plant product, but then they can purchase products coming from third countries that do use these picks. Therefore, the process of simplification must be extended to people and we the measures that provide for alternative solutions are insufficient.”
Pesticides & trade
- “54:44 – 15:57:30): Colleagues, artificial intelligence makes the transition to more agile and diverse work models inevitable. It requires flexible working arrangements, reinvents recruitment, and changes the way in which we evaluate productivity and results. At the same time, it strengthens the ethical imperative of effective human supervision, ensuring that workers' dignity is not trampled on or new models of discrimination emerge.
It also imposes an unprecedented scale of digital literacy, requiring continuous effort in qualification, skilling, and upskilling. For Portugal, the objective is clear: putting technology at the service of employment and strengthening workers' rights.
In this sense, the European Semester can play a more strategic role in reducing frictions in the labor market and improving the alignment between skills supply and demand. To do so, we need to strengthen monitoring through regular analyses of the impact of AI on digital and technological skills.
Secondly, ensure that the Union's financial instruments support in a coherent and strategic way active employment policies, the technological modernization of public employment services, and structured cooperation with companies and social partners in order to anticipate mismatches and ensure timely and effective reskilling processes.
Thirdly, encourage structural reforms in education, professional training, and lifelong learning systems, aligning them with the digital and green transitions internally, domestically.
That is, we approved the national artificial intelligence agenda and are negotiating a labor review proposal that explicitly recognizes the growing impact of AI and algorithmic management on labor relations. This proposal introduces specific measures to protect workers, namely algorithmic transparency and data protection, whether in hiring or dismissal.
With this legislative framework, we can boost investment and requalification in companies and reskilling in companies, increasing the number of SMEs that use AI tools, promote advanced training for public servants, enable innovation, and at the same time define competent authorities, coordination models, and clear regulatory frameworks ensuring ethical implementation of AI.
Finally, it is essential that technological innovation is at the service not only of economic competitiveness but also social justice, fairness, and the effective safeguarding of workers' rights. Thank you.”
Artificial Intelligence · European Semester (social dimension)
- “Thank you very much. Portugal would like to thank the presidency for the excellent work put into preparing these council conclusions on the European Environment Action Programme. The intensive legislative work carried out in the wake of the European green deal has made an important contribution to achieving the objectives of the eighth programme. Now the effective implementation of these instruments is what's going to be the main challenge for the coming years at this point in time. It's a point in time which is both of stock taking and preparation. It's important to strongly reaffirm that the green transition is not in conflict with eus growth and competitiveness, but is the only possible way forward. I'd also like to say that we need to give the due importance to the issue of water resilience. We welcome the clear call from the council to have an initiative from the commission in this area. Water and water resilience should be a priority in the next political cycle at European level. Thank you.”
Water pollution
- “Portugal would like to thank a lot of you for having, um, included this item expressing concerns and where we also see ourselves. The entry into force of the deforestation regulation adds more instability to the very difficult international situation we are experiencing, the added costs and the trade barriers on raw materials, which are very important for exports of countries. Developing countries can result in real tariffs imposed by the European Union, misunderstood internally and externally. So for such a reason, we like to call on that. The Commission reassess the impact, comparing the costs of applying the EU's regulation on deforestation with the expected results. Thank you.”
Trade impact on forests
- “Thank you very much. I would like to congratulate the presidency for all their work On these two files. These two files together will contribute to supporting competitiveness, sustainability and the resilience of the agricultural sector and improve. I'd like to stress the negotiating position of farmers in the value chain. And this is a goal which we should be pursuing a number of regulations. As to the CMO regulation. Portugal supports the obligatory written contracts with appropriate derogations in order to guarantee greater predictability for farmers. As to the regulation on cross-border enforcement of unfair trading practices. We believe that this allow the competent authorities to have the necessary instruments to gather information, detect infringements and implement fines. We await the Commission's presentation of the assessment of the UTP directive. Thank you.”
EU policy on farmer–buyer relations in the agri-food supply chain
- “Chair. Executive vice presidents, colleagues, Portugal supports the partial general approach on Agora EU and thanks the presidency for their work in building a balanced approach and compromise. We understand the rationale behind the simplification and increased flexibility that inspires this program, but we would like to underline that simplification mustn't turn into a loss of political visibility, identity, or financial predictability of culture within the new framework.
For Portugal, Agora EU must preserve the legacy of Creative Europe, support cultural and linguistic diversity in Europe, strengthen the cross border circulation of works, and ensure that countries with smaller scale markets, outermost regions, small operators, and independent creators have real access to European instruments.
Portugal supports, for this reason, the compromise that has been reached without prejudice to the Cyprus presidency and continues to support negotiations for the MFF, an adequate budget for the 3 strands of the program. Thank you.”
EU and national cultural identities
- “Thank you. Chair. First of all, I'd like to thank you for your hard work to ensure that this matter. With a great majority is should be decided on here in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. Through the necessary preparatory bodies. This is the right place to discuss simplification and the Common Agricultural Policy, to allow a balance between moving quickly and rigor, and ensuring that any changes to the cap are well substantiated and properly discussed. So I'd like to reiterate once again what has already been said by my colleagues. This is the place for us to analyze and decide on this simplification. There's another important point, which is the, uh, which is necessary at the moment. This simplification must be applied to the 2026 simple application. This call has already been made to the Danish presidency, and I'm calling upon them to make sure that this is possible. So that here again, this is where this should be decided. And this should this would allow us to move quickly enough. The simplification is important, as is the fact that this initiative shouldn't be conditional upon the upcoming Cap post 2027. These are different matters and shouldn't be interlinked, and the two cannot be waiting for each other.”
Agriculture (green)
- “Thank you very much, chair. I should like to thank the presidency for putting this item on the agenda proposed by France. Its relevance in the context of where we stand. And the reciprocity we've been focusing on. Of course, we can't tell a farmer that a specific product is something which he's not allowed to use some pharmaceutical products for production, for example, then is something that we're importing. There are products we're importing which are using this same phyto pharmaceutical product. It's important that reciprocity doesn't mean protectionism. And I presume that we also all agree on that. So we need to have a dialogue. And the reciprocity might also mean that we may require. The prohibition of certain phyto pharmaceutical products. Since if we don't have alternative solutions to their use. Thank you.”
Pesticides & trade
- “Thank [00:34:30] you very much, Luis. Thank you presidency for putting this important point on our agenda. It's essential for the Green Deal to work, for it to be implemented. It's important to guarantee food security as well. We broadly support this proposal. It will make farmers better aware of the state of their soil based on scientific data and will compensate those who use soil in a sustainable way. It will [00:35:00] improve yields and it will also raise the value of good soils based on political level. Decisions to have a more appropriate soil management system is a good thing and to affirm those measures to ensure that we remain sustainable in our production, both in the medium and long term. This is again good for farmers. The strategic plan for the Cap contains a number of implementing points already where soil is at the centre, and that's certainly the case [00:35:30] for Portugal when it comes to sustainable management. We want to improve soil quality. There are indicators that exist when it comes to carbon storage or sink it into the soil. The 50% of agriculture surface target fixed and other measures of the 30% soil level we have fixed are based also on support to permanent pasturing to direct and seeding [00:36:00] extensive animal husbandry husbandry. Et cetera. Et cetera are all welcome. But we are worried about extreme increases in public spending, red tape and so forth in the proposal. So we need to flesh out the details better. Otherwise we are actually going to shoot ourselves in the foot.
[00:36:22] So three things I would suggest in particular would be as following the soil districts or soil, diverse types of soil, diverse climate in Portugal [00:36:30] as well would mean a huge number of districts being created. Huge extra red tape and a lot of. Things that are difficult to implement. Better targets for each district. Better definition with scientific data, enough data exhaustively raised data would all be. We just don't have that sort of input at the moment in Portugal. Secondly, pre-established criteria for soil [00:37:00] to be regarded as healthy. We're worried about that. I mean, if you miss one parameter, you can completely miss it. This is far too restrictive in our view. We're very concerned about that. We believe, again, that targets should be set on trends basis rather than fixed rates per district. For instance, the in situ every five years sampling. We need proper funding for such monitoring to be possible, and that has to be set up because [00:37:30] otherwise at the moment we just have this 20% sampling from DG comp through the programme. That's just not enough. Now in Portugal we're looking at our land mapping. Again, we think that this is a system that could be very useful in implementation of this text. We hope it will have a positive effect. And as a soil observatory being created as well in our country, which we think will cover, a lot of the points are likely to be put in this [00:38:00] directive. Thank you.”
Soil protection policy
- “Thank you president. I would like to. Echo what my Spanish colleague has said. Luis, I welcome the European Oceans Pact. It's a very it's very important. Perhaps the commissioner could say a bit more about the billion euros for the pact. You know, we're talking about 50 projects, I think. Perhaps you could say a bit more about that. And in that billion euros, where will that money come from when it comes to European funding? I hope that you won't reduce the MFF in order to achieve this target. We are pioneers in this area, in the maritime space planning, in signing the Bebe and the treaty of the High Seas. We've got the biggest network of MPAs and we recently set up the protected area of Gorringe. Obviously, financing is very important and not all financing can come from M5. They can't fund everything. Thank you.”
Decarbonisation of maritime transport
- “Thank you. Thank you very much, Marie, and best wishes on your presidency. And I will speak in Portuguese. And I'd like to thank by thanking you, Commissioner, for your proposal and for the efforts that have been put into trying to meet the various challenges that the EU needs to meet. Obviously, we'll wait for more detailed discussions before we can assess completely, but we understand the need for flexibility and ambition at the same time without undermining stability of programming and foreseeability in the next financial package. Looking at the priorities mentioned, we recognise Recognize us, particularly when it comes to competitiveness, simplification. And this has to be in all our countries, in every region. And we also recognize ourselves in things like cohesion and support for farming. We need more investment in defense and security, and also our responsibilities externally have to be met, including when it comes vis a vis Ukraine. We need to find a way of dealing with crises. So we welcome the crisis mechanisms creation. It would allow member states and the EU to boost their response capacity where necessary, in a more efficient way. Given all the challenges, given the refund obligations when it comes to EU, we need to have robust and new approaches to our funding, which means looking at the new aspects of your proposal when it comes to budgeting, including new own resources, and try and move things forward in a concrete way. So, my dear Marie and my dear colleagues, our priorities were explained earlier this month already with our National position document, which you received. It's about the next MFF and there are proposals in it and we stick by them. This is just the start of a long negotiation. We are, as always, available to do our bit to get agreement, and we count on everybody playing a constructive role so that we can get a timely and felicitous outcome. Thank you.”
Size of EU budget
- “Thank you. Chair Portugal supported this AOB because we consider that governance and strategic priorities are critical issues we need to solve. As I have already mentioned in my previous intervention, without clarity on strategic steering, priority setting and respective roles, delegations will not be able to move forward with confidence, regardless of the position that member states may have on governance. When it comes to the interlinkage between Horizon Europe and ECF. The definition of priorities and strategic planning within R&D is a fundamentally unresolved issue that necessarily needs to be debated and cannot remain hostage to a high level steering mechanism and the competitiveness coordination tool, whose process we are yet unaware of. Thank you.”
EU-level coordination of research agendas
- “Thank [00:17:30] you to all colleagues who supported our proposal. Thank you, France and the Netherlands for raising a very important point and outcomes shared with us about the greater North Sea Basin. We welcome this initiative. We think it is a very, uh, encouraging thing for the rest of us to follow, to promote cooperation, close cooperation and having projects that we develop together. We'd also like to thank the Netherlands [00:18:00] for raising their AOB point. It's important that this be brought to the notice of the council. Forced labor on Chinese fishing vessels, in aquaculture and in processing. This is something very grave. Their products when they come into our market must fulfill the same requisites as we impose on our own producers when it comes to transparency, traceability and combating IUU in [00:18:30] all its forms. Every member state must play its part. Checks must be carried out appropriate level to minimise the entry into our markets of products that do not comply with the strict sustainability criteria we have, and which harm the interests of workers. Thank you.”
Import of agri-food products in the EU
- “Thank you. Maria Portugal thanks the presidency and the Commission for bringing this item to the agenda. The Mercosur agreement is very positive for the agri food sector and the European economy, and for strengthening the geostrategic position of the market, to reduce dependency and to strengthen our role in an increasingly competitive context. However, commercial openness requires a strengthening of border controls, making sure that these are efficient controls on imports as well as real guarantees for fair competition. I think that the solutions proposed by the commission are positive. With this €45 billion. However, solutions should ensure direct support of farmers through specific additional financing for agriculture. And here also the European Competitiveness Fund should contribute to our efforts. We would like to see these intentions put into specific regulatory proposals. Thank you.”
Trade relations with Mercosur
- “32:29 – 15:33:30): As I already said in, when I spoke earlier, for us, taking into account the specific needs of outermost regions is crucial for this negotiation because they are part of the EU territory. A positive discrimination that currently exists for these regions in the context of the CAP and also in the context of the cohesion policy, should be kept, and this should be responsibility of the 27 member states.
These are assets for the EU. They are extremely important in geopolitical terms, especially so in the current geopolitical context, and they should be seen as a as an opportunity for everyone, for for every member states and not just the responsibility of 3 member states. And we think that the provisions, in the treaties should therefore be, respected. Thank you.”
Funding for OCTs and outermost regions
- “Thank you very much, Marie. I will speak in Portuguese. Portugal, since the start of the negotiations has had a constructive approach. And that's why now we regret the fact that the most recent version of the nego box does not cater for our legitimate concerns. We think actually it's moving in the wrong direction. We can't accept a situation where a provision not included in the treaties on the rebates without any conditions of use, is now being considered. For some member states, where the GNI per capita is more than the EU average, Reg. But for those member states where the GNI per capita average is lower than 90% of the average, what you see is that the provisions in the treaty are not being respected. And the same applies for the attribution of a specific allowance for outermost regions. That's another requirement which is fully based in the treaties. And as we've said on various occasions in the past. Outermost regions are an important strategic asset for the EU as a whole. Portugal has made a major effort to bring its deficit under control to ensure that the burden of public debt is falling, and we can't accept a situation where we are now one of the member states, which is hardest hit when it comes to distributing the envelopes linked to the NRP when it comes to adding one. We wanted to reiterate the fact that we need to ensure that we have a funding model for partnership plans, which also contains a dimension based on real costs, not just on results, to appropriately reflect the needs linked to the different public policy measures.”
Funding for OCTs and outermost regions
- “And in the area of trade, we think it's imperative that we maintain our unity, that we speak with one voice as an economic bloc, and also that we maintain and strengthen the process through which we're trying to diversify the partners we're working with, notably through the agreements with Mercosur and Mexico. We think these are two crucial steps if we want to strengthen the EU's resilience and if we want to ensure more diversification in our trade policy. It will be important that we maintain a balance between having the EU markets open and also protecting the economic security of the EU. Resilience, we think, is possible partly by diversifying our partnerships and then when it comes to migration, something else we wanted to highlight. It's important that we have the pact on migration and asylum quickly implemented. We also think it's important that the new action plan for the Epsr is now going to be they presented. And when it comes to equality and the directive on equality, we would agree with those member states who said they'd like the commission to reconsider their decision to withdraw that text. Thank you.”
Trade relations with Mercosur
- “Thank you very much, chair. I would also like to welcome the Commissioner's initiative to hold a specific consultation on small scale fisheries, which is crucial for our competitiveness, but also for our economic and social cohesion. Of the many coastal communities, including the outermost regions, many of which depend on small scale fishing. It is therefore crucial, because of this specificity, that we have preferential treatment for them to ensure the continuity of small scale fishing in order to improve their resilience, their contribution to the fishing products that provide huge variety, quality and freshness and that usually are caught in a sustainable manner that is respectful of the environment. It attracts tourists, it increases, improves the economy, and it also ensures generational renewal at the same time. Thank you.”
Funding for fisheries and aquaculture
- “First of all, I'd like to say hello to the executive vice president from the Commission. Congratulations on your appointment. We'd like to thank the Hungarian presidency for the work that they have done to try to take on board the concerns of various member states to get a general approach. Council general approach. On the directive on traineeships, we do think this is an incredibly important issue. Some of the problems identified in various versions have not been resolved yet. We feel particularly relating to the, um, scope, the personal scope of this directive. So Portugal does have problems with this directive. How will this fit in with what we have nationally on traineeships? There is a problem there. That's why we're still not in favour of this general approach. We do feel, therefore, that this is a process that should be carried on to and by the next presidency. Thank you.”
Youth employment & training
- “Portugal considers that the framework programme requires a simpler, more efficient and result oriented approach, reducing the cluttering of instruments time to grant and further action to streamline pathways in order to transform excellent research into marketable solutions. Looking towards the future, the evaluation results confirm the centrality of Horizon Europe to our competitiveness, productivity and technological technological leadership. We welcome the evidence that the Framework programme indeed brings strong returns. Therefore, we believe that this evaluation confirms the need for a framework programme with a stronger and dedicated budget, especially considering that nearly 70% of high quality proposals go unfunded. Topics should be structured around European challenges rather than predefined technologies. More open and less prescriptive. Prescriptive topics can foster creativity, flexibility, inclusion, and better alignment with the evolving policy context. We should continue to invest across the full knowledge value chain, from fundamental and collaborative research to breakthrough innovation addressing the innovation gap, as well as strengthening the widening measures that has been very successful in contributing to close the innovation divide. Dynamic SMEs are crucial for generating innovation, high quality jobs and economic growth. While there are many SMEs participating in Horizon Europe, according to the mid-term evaluation, their number is not increasing. Smes participants are often partners in collaborative, collaborative projects. We should enhance this part of the program and introduce further measures to facilitate access to funding not only to SMEs, but also to startups and scale ups. For instance, a comprehensive financial incentive package could be considered to further stimulate SME investments. This should include grants, tax benefits and subsidies, as well as the creation of innovation vouchers or small grants to support collaboration between SMEs, large companies and research institutions in Portugal. Empirical evidence confirms the stronger impact of industry university collaboration on SMEs, namely on firm productivity and firm size growth. Concerning dual use and European Innovation Council. Due to geopolitical challenges we are facing, we agree with opening the R&D to dual use. Bearing in mind, however, that FPN should remain civilian at its core. Thank you very much.”
EU research funding
- “Thank you very much. Chair, Commissioner. Colleagues, we welcome the effort made by the Commission to implement the initiatives aimed at achieving the objectives of the vision and generational renewal, as well as the water strategy. And we would like to highlight the importance of the work carried out by the Commissioner. Portugal is particularly worried by the increase of prices and of fertilisers, but we need to ensure the sustainability of our farmers and this requires European solutions. It is absolutely essential to ensure a common European strategy. We therefore risk here not only distorting and fragmenting our internal market, but we also risk undermining the fundamental nature of the cap. And to this end, we also. Refer to the EU Court Court's recent sentence regarding the MFF. We see that the priorities that have been given further attention to are not focusing on the key pillars, and the funding is insufficient and hasn't been updated. And this particularly regards the funding of agriculture and the rural target, which was announced by the Commission. This also requires the implementation of the promised advanced payment of the amount reserved for the mid-term review €45 million and we must have legal certainties to reach the commitment that we agreed to. To ensure that the cap maintains its truly common size and ambition, we request the transfer of the remaining provisions relating to agriculture and rural development of the NRP regulation to the Cap and the CMO regulation. This transfer should allow for the creation of a solid and coherent framework for the cap. We also believe that it is essential to ensure the transition between financial frameworks to ensure the legal security, stability, and to do this, we need to ensure not only operational stability, but also operational programs and multilateral multiannual intervention for the wine and fruit and vegetable sector during the transition between financial frameworks and therefore, we support, together with Spain. The programs described earlier. We also support France's request regarding the suspension of the Cbam, and we urge the Commission to present the action plan for fertilisers as soon as possible in order to achieve this objective. Thank you.”
Agricultural funding
- “The biodiversity protection measures shouldn't just be based on restrictions on fisheries. Then on your third document, communication [00:35:00] on the energy transition. We think that this is a cross-cutting priority for the whole of the European Union and without viable solutions and without the necessary financial resources, this transition will not be possible in the sector. We are sure that the Commission will clarify the financial resources available and make available additional resources. And we also need to have an informed discussion [00:35:30] about the fishing capacity of our fleets. And that goes hand in hand with a discussion on technological developments in the energy transition. Finally, on the CMO, we welcome the. Conclusions of the report. It highlights the role of producer organizations in the fisheries sector and in terms of food security and information to the consumers. Progress has been made in Portugal and this is now crucial when [00:36:00] it comes to implementing management measures and meeting objectives. When it comes to the marketing of fisheries and aquaculture products, we now have a resilient producer organisations and they are essential to the sector in the future. We need to increase our recognition of transnational organisations. Finally, we are facing huge challenges at global level. Fisheries [00:36:30] are essential in terms of providing jobs and ensuring that the food chain works properly. Of course, as usual, we are ready to cooperate actively with the Commission and the Presidency and look at the relevant actions. Thank you.”
Funding for fisheries and aquaculture · Environmental regulation of fisheries
- “17:51 – 10:19:24): Thank you, Nicodemus. Portugal fully supports the proposal of regulation, and welcomes the progress made under the Cyprus presidency. This, regulation is an important step towards the digitalization of our economies, enhancing competitiveness, and deepening the single market.
We'd like to highlight that Portugal has been at the forefront of digital identity solutions. And since 2019, we have made available a digital identity wallet. And since January of this year, that wallet also incorporates a digital business wallets, which we believe were the 1st 1 in Europe, providing a single integrated solution for both natural persons and legal persons.
The solution has already proven to be a success with thousands of business businesses adopting it, and we we believe that it's a good example of simplification.
In this context, Portugal particularly welcomes the clarifications given by the commission, particularly that the proposal does not require member states to provide a separate standalone application and that it does not preclude integrated wallet solutions covering both natural and legal persons.
This compatibility with single wallet approach is essential for member states like Portugal that have already invested in such solutions. We also note the importance of ensuring that implementing acts are developed in close cooperation with member states so that the technical framework for the EBW reflects and accommodates the diversity of national solutions already in place.
Portugal stands ready to contribute its experience to the benefit of all member states. Thank you.”
Electronic identity
- “Dear Minister, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, thank you. It is for me a great pleasure to take part for the first time in this Council of Ministers of Culture of the EU, and thank you for yesterday's cultural programme. The issues of of the complexity of the ecosystem of AI and in [00:08:00] and their impact in CS has been at the heart of the work, uh, carried out in Portugal, which led to the approval in 2019 of the Portuguese strategy for AI. It's, uh, aligned with the European strategy and the coordinated plan for AI, which, uh, has as a principle to make sure that the AI systems in Portugal are safe and, uh, abide by fundamental rights, not, uh, [00:08:30] not forgetting the goal to stimulate creativity, investment and innovation. We are promoting the modernisation of cultural institutions, promoting new competences and an education for multiple literacy. Despite all of this, we must think that there are new challenges that come along with this. We must take care to promote, uh, cultural diversity and linguistic diversity, [00:09:00] and bear in mind the threats therein and, uh, not allow disinformation to proliferate. Uh, I would like to underline the connection of AI with culture. Uh, sometimes, uh, AI technologies, uh, capture social and cultural expressions and music videos, pictures and text and social interactions. Uh, culture has therefore a crucial role to play in the use of [00:09:30] AI in a large scale, and must be used in the general debate and in political policy policies in this area.
This has not happened to date. The transformative potential demands us to do that work, especially in cases where AI can be used to create, produce, promote and use, uh, cultural goods and services to, uh, foresee trends and [00:10:00] support decision making with our national strategy, we wanted to start a debate domestically around the use of AI and their impacts on ccw's, namely the area of streaming platforms and licensing services which can jeopardise fair compensation for creators. We must not forget the rights of authors, the necessary balance between production of content using AI [00:10:30] and human intellectual creation, which is the basis for critical thinking, and of the whole, uh, area of creative activities at the European level. We must explore the opportunities that AI gives us currently and will in the future for Ccw's. At the same time, we must look at the new challenges to which we must respond, taking into account the needs of SCS and their risks. [00:11:00] So we must have as a basis the work plan of the EU for culture and study, uh, and the influence it can have on the opportunities and challenges that uh, AI technologies for SCS, which we published two years ago by the Commission and which is a crucial landmark we must develop and continuously update critical thinking about these very sensitive matters. Thank you very much.”
EU and national cultural identities
- “Inclusion and diversity and promoting environmental sustainability and more recently, digital innovation. These models are extremely valuable, but need to be rethought to better align them to the consequences of the current geopolitical and economic situation, as well as the challenges to competitiveness and the impact of AI. We therefore think that to protect our common values, to safeguard our European cultural identity and our democratic values which define us, the sector really also has to provide opportunities to develop projects which will promote these values, and we think it's vital to have a broader dissemination and communication strategy to which better informs people that we want the involvement of everybody, including the member states, who not only promote the program but who also provide complementary forms of support. We think that the bodies that are responsible for implementing the program, the European Commission and its implementing agency, do very valuable work and very often with limited resources, which is also an important point. It's interesting, therefore, and no coincidence that we take into account the links between the MFF and the new Cultural Europe programme and the cultural compass in the current political geopolitical context, where economic issues and security and climate change are playing an increasingly important role. It's vital that we strengthen the links between culture and other sectors that are emerging to be strategic, such as the energy transition and the digital economy. It's therefore important that we have a more resilient sector and that we, in fact ensure that we have a diversified form of financing culture, linking it in with areas and objectives which are consistent with the needs of the current moment, whilst defending artists and creative and cultural professionals using and involving them as well in fighting the threats that are facing us. Thank you.”
EU and national cultural identities
- “Thank you very much. We'd like to support the French note, and we fully support the concerns raised therein, especially with regard to the risk of IVR. Um, we do have a problem six years after the [00:20:00] publication of the regulations and uh, uh, and years after the transitional measures, it's really not working. It's not working in the transparent way in which we would hope it would work. Uh, the, uh, the commission says that there are new figures and we welcome those, but we need to take initiatives to make sure that the unnamed modules become obligatory. We don't know why this shouldn't be binding. [00:20:30] Uh, we do know that this is the commission remit, but we have to see where we can work to improve the situation and make sure that the regulation is upheld.”
Food labelling harmonisation at EU level
- “Thank you. Chair. Portugal would like to thank the work carried out by the Cypriot presidency and the political impetus given to European tourism. Through these conclusions and the informal meeting of tourism ministers held in Nicosia. We consider particularly relevant a move towards a more balanced and sustainable approach to tourism activity, ensuring greater involvement of local communities and improved management of tourism flows. We would also highlight the importance of developing, monitoring, assessment and destination management tools based on reliable, accessible and interoperable data. Indeed, the current international context reinforces the need to ensure resilient and competitive connectivity. In this context, connectivity continues to be of strategic importance, particularly for peripheral member states, island regions, and outermost regions, as it is important to ensure adequate EU funding to support the sustainable and digital transition of the tourism ecosystem, including SMEs. We sincerely believe these conclusions may constitute a valuable contribution to the forthcoming European Strategy for Sustainable Tourism. Thank you chair.”
EU funding for transportation
- “Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to congratulate the Hungarian presidency for the work done on the. Leading to the conclusion of the first reading on the legislation on animal health during transport. There is room for a little improvement with regard to the clear separation of responsibilities between the different agents involved in transport. The harmonisation of competences required for animal transport, and we have to think about the specific circumstances in each Member state with regard to monitoring the internal Temperature during transport. We don't think that the definition is achievable via delegated acts. Now, with regard to traces and satellite systems, it is positive that this is going to be linked to a geolocation equipment during transport. But we have to be careful about the type of data. We are concerned about the bureaucratic implications of the proposals. In particular, all these authorizations for transporters and and certifications of vehicles via traces. Linking traces to national databases may be an option. And but we need to insist on European funding for the informatics changes that would be would be necessary. So there are points that require detailed and careful discussion amongst the Member States. Journey times, the space for animals and temperature limits are points about which we need further detailed discussion. So in conclusion, this is a complex issue that's very important for the EU and Portugal. But we are totally available to work with the future Polish presidency. And we need with a view to having a more detailed discussion where necessary. Thank you.”
EU requirements on animal welfare for farmers
- “Thank you, chair. Dear commissioner, Portugal welcomes the progress achieved by the presidency in the negotiations on the regulation establishing the European Competitiveness Fund and supports the objective of reaching a partial general approach in June.
The ECF constitutes a key instrument to strengthen Europe competitiveness, resilience and industrial capacity. So Portugal advocates combining excellence with a truly pan European dimension of the fund, promoting the integration of complementary capabilities, cross border cooperation and broader participation from the various European ecosystems.
We welcome the progress made in strengthening the SME participation, notably through the target measures and their better integration in European value chains. As well, as we know, we need to work on the transfer of technology in the knowledge in the lab to fab, and we believe that this instrument will be crucial to achieve those goals. Thank you.”
EU industrial funding (mechanism level: EU-pooled vs nationally-financed)
- “Can we have a microphone, please? Thank you. Thank you, Peter. First of all, I'd like to say welcome and wish the Swedish presidency all the best. And of course, I'm at your disposal to provide support in implementing the program that you've just presented. I'd like to thank you for putting this point on the agenda. And I'd also like to thank those member states who have supported us and cooperated in work on this communication. And thank you, all of you, for your support.
The transport of animals is an important part of our food production system. It involves many different transfers for different purposes, from production to markets to slaughterhouses, and it requires high levels of animal welfare standard and close monitoring by the authorities. We realize that animal transport is one of the most visible parts of animal production. It attracts attention and the concerns of our public. The public is concerned about the conditions in animal transport. This is very important in ethical terms and in terms of implementing the one health program. So in the fork, the Farm to Fork proposal, a request was made inviting the Commission to revisit the existing legislation in the light of most recent scientific advice, bearing in mind the increasing demands of society and the need for sustainability.”
EU requirements on animal welfare for farmers
- “Dear president, dear colleagues, Portugal welcomes the priority given to the topic of advanced materials and the Commission's initiative taken with the communication concerning the first question. The innovation cycle for advanced materials is long and requires considerable investments to increase the scale of production [00:04:30] and their integration into the different relevant value chains. Therefore, Portugal would propose first to enhance the incentives towards the exploitation of the results from projects at national and European levels. Secondly, ensure the sustainability and continuity of certain initiatives such as open innovation testbeds and demonstrator type projects. These initiatives may [00:05:00] attract further private investment necessary to carry out the Advanced Materials Strategy. Thirdly, the European Innovative Materials for EU partnership together with proposed Technology Council, should in their respective remits align strategies and investments, including with the private sector, covering the entire innovation cycle of advanced materials. Fourth, foster synergies between [00:05:30] EU funded projects and national programmes, allowing stakeholders to develop and adopt the innovations and results obtained. These includes the exploitation of mechanisms such as the sovereignty sovereignty seals under the Steppe Platform. Now concerning the second question, Portugal supports the four domains the communication for advanced materials. However, we [00:06:00] consider that the domain of biomaterials and medical technologies, including the development of biosensors, should be considered in future iterations. Iterations. On the third question, Portugal could highlight some national initiatives devoted to promoting a more consistent collaboration between a academy and companies, which we plan to evaluate and draw some [00:06:30] lessons from the collaborative laboratories collabs between research centres and companies operating in different areas, including advanced materials and technology and innovation centres. The mobilising agendas for business, innovation and green agendas under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, which compromises comprises of projects that are specifically dedicated to advanced materials covering the four identified sectors [00:07:00] and a new programme for the support of nonacademic doctoral scholarships and an upcoming national call. General National call for academic postdoctoral positions engaging different stakeholders in research and industry. These two instruments are aimed at encouraging these intersectoral mobility and attractive sustainable research careers [00:07:30] in different areas such as materials. So to conclude, Portugal very much in welcomes this initiative. Thank you very much.”
Research priorities within the EU
- “Mr. chairman, Mr. commissioner colleagues, we'd like to welcome apostolos. First and foremost. And Portugal hopes that your mandate will be very successful. And we hope that lots of people will visit Portugal's new high speed line. We'd like to thank the Hungarian presidency for the work done on this legislative proposal. A lot has been achieved in consolidating a text which we think is very balanced. Portugal is happy at the solutions that have been found in terms of proportionality, subsidiarity, respect for fundamental rights and the respect for personal data, without calling into question the main aim of the proposal, which is to promote road safety and avoid impunity on the part of serious non-resident offenders. Obviously, there have been concerns about reducing administrative burdens and this is important when it comes to the three month period and in relation to the quantity of information to be shared between the relevant two member states. So could we underline the challenges that the member States will be facing? I think it would be wrong to say that for most member states, sharing competencies across different ministries. Well, I think it will represent an increased challenge when it comes to implementation. Portugal is very willing to continue working in future negotiations with the Parliament, bearing in mind the main aim of enhancing road safety and guaranteeing safety safer roads for everybody.”
Road transport environmental policy
- “Thank you very much, chair. Dear colleagues, Portugal is grateful to the Commission for presenting this proposal for revision. We believe that transport continues to be one of the main emission, one of the greenhouse gas emitters, including road transport, which responsible for 95% of emissions in this sector. Therefore, a speedy, efficient and credible Transformation is needed to move towards more clean forms of fuel and thus meet also the targets established in the effort sharing regulation. The current Commission's proposal does have positive aspects which could contribute to this effort. In order to reconcile maintaining a credible trajectory and a consistent trajectory towards decarbonization and ensuring economic viability for our transition, I would like to underscore two elements. Of this commission proposal. The introduction of a mechanism of multiannual compliance, which could provide greater flexibility, reducing the exposure of manufacturers to future changes in the market without jeopardising the final objectives of reducing emissions. I would also like to highlight a mechanism associated to low carbon steel use as produced in the EU. This could also contribute to decarbonizing this, decarbonizing the steel sector and reducing emissions in producing vehicles. Chair Portugal sees European competitiveness and decarbonization as two inseparable dimensions of the same economic coin. In this context, it's extremely important to ensure that our debate allows us to maintain a proper balance between flexibility and ambition without jeopardizing those who have already made a lot of effort and done a lot of work in this direction. The early movers nor slowing down or investments already underway. Thank you.”
Road transport environmental policy
- “Thank you, Madam Chair. Allow me to dare to pre-empt one of the conclusions of this council, which seems obvious to us. Europe stands united in defending EU culture and its diversity. It stands united in defending the sector, whether from the threats of the current geopolitical context or from digitalisation, and the lack of clear mechanisms to defend human creativeness. And today we've seen a lot of examples of this in the cases we've discussed, the initiative that has been produced by France on European cinema, sends a clear signal that we stand united in defending and strengthening the European cultural models based on diversity, freedom of creation and the protection of the cultural and creative sector. We therefore welcome this initiative and state that Portugal endorses the draft joint statement, thus reaffirming our commitment to the European cultural model, which is competitive, pluralistic and a fundamental pillar for the democracy and strategic autonomy of Europe.”
EU and national cultural identities
- “So we promote a balanced value chain approach as a conditional essential for the success. Turning to chemicals, Portugal welcomes the Action Plan and the Critical Chemicals Alliance. We identify strategic assets at risk and coordinating financial instruments. It is the right step. However, urgency is clear. Europe must prevent further deindustrialization. This requires affordable energy again faster deployment of low carbon hydrogen. Progress on carbon capture and sustainable carbon sources, and an effective enforcement at our borders to ensure a right level playing field on automotive. Portugal supports the Industrial Action Plan and the automotive package simplification and support for decarbonisation is necessary. Demand side measures can accelerate uptake of zero emission vehicles provided they are predictable and coordinated, and at the same time, Europe must reinforce its capabilities in batteries as we are doing in Portugal software chips and automotive AI and ensure that the strong skill strategy accompanied the transition. In conclusion, industrial resilience requires speed, affordable energy, fair access to funding and the full value chain approach. If we can align these elements across steel, chemicals and automotive, Europe will strengthen both in competitiveness and in its strategic autonomy. Thank you.”
Energy (green transition)
- “Dear colleagues, Commissioner, dear Minister Damiano, I will focus on your second and third questions. Governance. And I would have the strategic planning process, the interlinkages between Fp10, namely between policy windows in pillar two and the European Competitiveness Fund need to be clear cut, preserving the autonomy and the role of Horizon Europe in generating new knowledge, curiosity driven and disruptive innovation. A landmark and the competitiveness advantage of Europe and at the same time guaranteeing the investment journey. In this regard, a governance that respects the specificities of R&D and knowledge creation needs to be ensured. In addition, co-creation and co-design must remain at the core of any priority setting mechanisms to be implemented. Meaningful involvement of Member States at appropriate level is needed if one considers the possibility of Member States providing additional funding or securing co-funding for specific actions. And this brings me to the to my second point, Partnerships. Coordination involving member states, participation in the definition and selection of future of a future partnerships portfolio must be a non-negotiable, negotiable principle, and this will require, in many cases, national, regional and private sector co-funding to be mobilised. Partnerships should be should receive funding from the ECF in alignment with the thematics of policy windows.”
EU-level coordination of research agendas
- “In this context, I have to mention the situation of the Madeira Black Scabbardfish fleet, which operates with hook and line fishing gear in an old and obsolete wooden vessel lacking minimum living conditions. We have €5 million that are waiting to be allocated, and this is because of EU legislation that needs to urgently be amended to do so. We need support to adapt operating costs as happened in 2022. We also believe it important that we should have a European framework for implementing and for coordinated action. We have a cap and we have a common fisheries policy that it's important that we coordinate all of this so as to avoid distortions due to the internal market. And it is also crucial to develop new and innovative technologies in order to increase energy efficiency. Creating prototypes and a ship. Helping ship builders to focus on new scientific discoveries so that the fishing sector can enjoy further funding. It is absolutely crucial that in view of the Horizon Europe objectives that so that we can achieve all these objectives. Thank you.”
Funding for fisheries and aquaculture
- “41:33 – 10:44:13): very much, chairman, colleagues. I'd like to thank everyone for the work that has gone into this very demanding process. It is a particularly sensitive and complex matter that we're dealing with, and that's why I wanted to highlight much of the progress that has been made. But there are still some significant outstanding issues.
I think we need to be very clear in delineating the scope of the regulation, which is why in this phase, we need to ensure that we are looking at parenthood that's established within a member state. This is the first private international law instrument in this domain, and it's normal that there are questions about the scope and situations coming from third countries.
We need a phased approach across the EU so that we have solutions that maintain mutual trust between member states and create the conditions for the regime to develop further in the future.
For this to be a useful exercise so that we can identify priorities, we need to look at the various issues of the proposal and try and find the broadest consensus possible. If consensus is not possible, a lot has already been said this morning. It's a process that has taken very long time, and it's going to be difficult to be pragmatic and find unanimity in this particular domain.
In this context, if we want to move forward along the lines of reinforced cooperation, we need to ensure that across this around this table, we have solutions that represent various points of view. Those countries that want consensual solutions need to ensure that we have significant progress made.
Reinforced cooperation is an option, and Portugal could be a part of that process and be one of the member states that goes in that direction. But we do need to ensure that this construct this solution is constructive, that it's not too restrictive, and that doesn't leave out too many countries that also represent our EU. Thank you. Thank you very much. Bulgaria now, Nikolay. Thank”
EU political integration
- “This is a personalized service which is fully person centric, where each defines the measures that are needed for the well-being. We are also working in a change vis a vis the activity centers when it comes to including people living with disabilities, and the aim is that of making these structures more flexible, more open to communities, and one that promotes a active integration and involvement when it comes to the methodology. We are working on having a person centric approach and which is based on their needs by having a tailored offer. Looking at the specific needs and by considering the projects of each person. When it comes to the second question, we believe that the future anti-poverty strategy will really have to be multidimensional, and it has to promote integrated services, which are person centric and focus on social, labour, housing, health and education services. They have to be integrated. We will also have to support the territorial networks. Looking at the proximity and have adequate European financing for quality services. This is the only way that we will be able to fight the cycle of poverty by leveraging integrated policies, which are centered in the person and focusing on practical results.”
EU policy on disability inclusion & accessibility
- “We need instruments to mitigate risk, we should have a European guarantee for insurances and reinsurance. They should be able at the should be able to uh it should be possible at national level. We should also have um measures to mitigate these issues. We also we we also need um measures for animal disease related problems. We also need vaccines. We need vaccines to be um, available and affordable vaccines and medicines. Otherwise there will be a distorted market. And to reinforce competitive and resilience, we also need to change the regulatory framework. We should have an incentive based approach and we should promote a transition to a more sustainable agriculture. When it comes to your second question. Public support, particularly from the Cap, are vital for the viability of farms and agricultural territories, especially in fragile or outermost regions. Even the most competitive farms need support for the transition. Voluntary markets for carbon and ecosystem services are a possibility. There's a lot of work to be done in this area. We also feel that we need to have flexibility in, um, in the funding coming from Horizon Europe and also in um instruments financed by the EIB. Also, we need to simplify things. We need to use technology. Um, we need to use satellites. We need to use them in our controls. And we we still we're still not able to use drones in agriculture. This would be very important. Thank you very much.”
Agricultural funding
- “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Portugal considers that it's very important for the European Union to conclude the negotiations for a framework on the use of new genomic techniques in agriculture. And as we see it, it should be known as new techniques for. New techniques for plant improvement rather than genomic techniques. Because in fact this is what we're talking about. We are concerned at the lack of results from the proposal, which we think is fairly balanced in nature. We think that this regulation, these rules are very important for the agricultural sector because the potential of these new genomic techniques, varieties in facing the challenges that face our agricultural systems, the economic, environmental and food security challenges, all this is very significant, and we need to move forward to fulfill the farm to fork objectives under the new Green Deal. Thank you.”
New Genomic Techniques
- “Thank you very much, Romina. First of all, we'd like to congratulate the Commission for this very bold proposal for the recast of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. It's very ambitious and will give a good protection to water bodies. It's in line with the European Green Deal. But there are some things that we're very concerned about. This proposal does not take into account the geographical diversity of Member states, particularly the characteristics of water bodies and other regional specificities. It should be more compatible with the Water Framework Directive, and it should be in line with the proportionality principle. The territory of the European Union is very diverse. You've got inland lakes with a low water renewal rate and coastal areas such as the Portuguese coast, with a very high water renewal rate. Plus land use is very different across the European Union. A good approach would be to define discharge criteria according to the type of discharge, i.e. population and industrial discharge and also the type of water body. So a combined approach, rather than focusing on population treatment and quality criteria based only on population, might not actually mean that you have good quality water in the water body.
Plus it's disproportionate costs for not so much benefit. There might be negative environmental side effects, increased energy consumption, for example, chemical products or more sludge production as well. It's also against the principle of circular economy. You remove nutrients for water, then that water is reused in irrigation land irrigation and the nutrients that have been removed are replaced with synthetic fertilizers. Synthetic fertilizers. Also, the specific situation of outermost regions should be taken into account. Their specificity is enshrined in the treaties. They should be taken into account. The deadlines are very ambitious, and this isn't compatible with the Water Framework Directive, which will mean administrative, additional administrative burden and duplication of efforts on the extended producer responsibility scheme. It could be beneficial, but we do have some concerns about the fact that you only include the pharmaceutical and personal care products sector. Also this mechanism, this scheme will be implemented at the same time as quaternary treatment, which will mean that water treatment plants will have water treatment plants will have to have a high outlay of initial investment which might undermine their sustainability. Thank you, thank you.”
Water pollution
- “Not an option. It is a critical priority. As and as many mentioned previously, industry plays a key role to achieve it. For Portugal, it should focus on simplification, financing, trust convergence and better coordination. First simplification. Companies need clarity and predictability. We must avoid overlapping regulatory requirements, accelerate decision making, and ensure that bureaucracy does not become a barrier to innovation. Speed and simplicity are essential if we want businesses and investors Masters to to see this fund as a real tool for competitiveness. Portugal is implementing this logic with a Step initiative, where synergies between funds are being strengthened through a broad institutional base. Second, financing. And to be effective, the fund must offer a comprehensive and flexible set of instruments equity loans, guarantees blended finance tailored to different stages of company growth, from small, innovative startups to large strategic industrial projects. This diversity is vital if we want to mobilize private capital and address the absence of a truly integrated European capital market. And here I want to underline something crucial. Trust. Competitiveness depends not only on instruments, but on trust. Trust in companies and entrepreneurs in their capacity to innovate and take risks.”
"Buy European" provisions
- “Thank you very much, chair. Portugal's position has been consistent in the sense of rejecting Russian and Belarusian participation as or allowing them solely as neutral athletes. We believe that such participation should take place without any representatives of national teams and without use of any national symbols. This is in line with the concerns that were raised at this very Council by the Commission and by Poland, supported by various other Member States. Also, thank you very much.
**ΠΡΟΕΔΡΕΥΟΥΣΑ ΣΥΜΒΟΥΛΙΟΥ @Chair: Thank you very much. We continue with Belgium and then Sweden and Croatia.”
EU-Russia relations (from March 2022)
- “Thank you very much, chair. First and foremost, I would like to, thank our give welcome to our colleagues from Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania as well as the commissioner and the other, members. Portugal would like to thank the fact that the presidency has included this debate. I would also like to thank the, active, efforts of commissioner Hanson.
We look forward to implementing the short, medium, and long term measures, which will strengthen the European Union's strategic autonomy and doing so by ensuring the regular availability of affordable fertilizers. These will be essential to guarantee food security.
Moving to the questions. On the first 1, we believe the 20 22 European Commission recommendations are still valid, but they have to be strengthened in light of the current, geopolitical environment. The fertilizer market, is going through, extra pressure due to the blockade on the Strait Of Hormuz. But we also know there are new restrictions this year regarding the CBAM, and we know that this represents extra pressure.
We reiterate the importance of having a robust CAP to respond to the challenges that we face. We also need to ensure that the internal market works well to ensure that we achieve and have a veritable internal market, and that is why we need a joint response at the EU level and avoiding use of state as the go to solution because this will lead to the distortion of the internal markets.
We all recognize that European challenges require European solutions. On the second question, we do welcome the suspension and the temporary suspension of the, duties, regarding the, most favored nation regarding fertilizers. It is also important to formalize the reduction of the CBAM levy to 1%. This will ensure a robust crisis management fund and will support producers and high production costs.
We should consider having a new wide purchasing mechanism to stabilize prices and ensuring adequate stock levels. I have insisted a lot on the competitiveness fund. It is very important that we have a policy window on agriculture to reduce our dependency.
We can use the competitiveness fund to promote research. We've already used that for vaccines and animal health, but research is very important to find alternative solutions to conventional fertilizers. I'm speaking specifically of biofertilizers. Using algae, animal bioproducts should all be considered.
Now they may not substitute chemical fertilizers, but they may provide a viable alternative to farmers. We should look at revising and the importance of the nitrate directive. Moving to financing. The agricultural reserve should be bolstered by looking at other sources. Just take commitment the decommitments in this, multi annual financial framework. We should use these.
I would also like to mention that the ETS can be a source of income. We are experiencing a crisis. This is a way of investing in a circular economy of reducing our dependency. And we all have to ensure food security in the European Union, and this is the way to do it. Thank you.”
Use of fertilisers
- “We could use the European Commission's proposal within the MFF. The aim would be to have a guarantee and risk sharing instrument. This would not. This would mean that the European Investment Bank would be involved in the transfer of risks. This would mean also that the banks could use the national budgets in order to deal with the matter. The programming cycle of the next MFF will offer the opportunity to to have a debate concerning risk management in this structural and intelligent fashion. Now, at the moment, we have the authorizations that have that have not been implemented. What does this mean? This means that we need to focus once again on prevention. We need to strengthen investments in order to make the territories more resilient and minimize risks. Investments also need to be made in new technologies. We need plants that are more resistant to to drought, extreme rain and so on. The this European reinsurance system will provide farmers with a vital support and will also increase the European Union's food security resistance. The technical and financial systems for this system must be discussed very soon. Thank you very much.”
Agricultural funding
- “Thank you very much, chair Maria. Commissioner. Colleagues, I would like to compliment the Bulgarian minister and welcome the, uh, Dutch minister. I the issues that we're facing are worsened by the start of the war in the Middle East. We all know that this has strongly impacted the cost of the union's aging fishing vessels. In this context, measures aimed at improving energy efficiency cannot be disassociated, Dissociated from the renewal and modernization of vessels. It's not enough to simplify, but we need to amend legislation and we need to act immediately. And therefore we advocate for the creation of exceptional and urgent measures consistent with the current reality, namely amending the regulation of the MFF in order to allow support for the replacement of hulls with other new shapes, lighter materials, less friction, and to install new and more efficient propulsion systems that will produce fewer emissions of polluting gases. We also need to amend the rules for fleet capacity in order to allow for modernization intended to improve working conditions on board, and that this may, if necessary, increase engine power to ensure the stability of the vessel. Only in this way will it be possible to guarantee, at the same time, the safety of the vessel and of the crew.”
Funding for fisheries and aquaculture
- “Thank you. Chair, Portugal. Thanks Estonia and Poland for its concerns and for the documents provided. We consider it essential to ensure the availability of conventional products for crop prevention in the European Union, since the reduction in the number of conventional active substances that are authorised in the EU in recent years, and the lack of effective alternatives have restricted the tools available for protecting crops against pests and diseases. This limitation puts European producers and their market position at a competitive disadvantage compared to third countries, which impose fewer restrictions. In this context, we believe that the Commission's approach of equating sowing with treated seats with the use of a plant protection product is out of line with the simplification objective, which underlines the omnibus package, particularly with regard to reducing administrative burdens. Thank you.”
EU policy on pesticides
- “Thank you very much. President. Vice president. Commissioner. I'd like to thank you for giving us this opportunity to talk about the priorities relating to the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan. We are at a critical stage when it comes to the future of Europe. We're facing major challenges in an uncertain global context. The best way to promote prosperity and reduce poverty is by increasing the economic growth rate and bolstering our companies in the letter latter report and the Drac Draghi report, productivity and competitiveness and improving that is absolutely essential. And the way that we can guarantee our social model as well. There are two main points I wanted to make here. First of all, the first one relates to employment. We need to promote employment and employability, which means that we need to have active labour market policies, better, better, better qualified qualification, better wages, skills matching, more flexible work. And this is a common challenge that we face is migration. We need to promote legal migration. Third country workers should. Page should be qualified and meet the needs of our companies. There was a recent agreement between our government and the social partners in Portugal, which shows how important it is to involve partners when it comes to determining working conditions and also increasing the productivity and competitiveness of our companies. Because the solutions that we came to in this agreement have set wage growth, a significant wage growth for minimum salaries, but also medium levels of salaries, and also direct, um, direct tax benefits for companies, exemption from taxes. If and incentives relating to capitalization for companies. Through this, we're trying to strike a balance between social protection, protection, the proper value of work and economic growth, and of course, the competitiveness of our companies. We certainly welcome the Commission's intention to revise the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, possibly including another another goal relating to quality of employment. Thank you.”
European Semester (social dimension)
- “Thank you very much, chairman. This is important that we don't have a negative impact on the, um, environment, or also in terms of, uh, the strain on our road infrastructure. And that's why we need to update the provisions of the directive on [00:17:00] maximum weights to promote the decarbonisation of road transport, particularly for goods, for freight, and that will contribute to the strategic objectives of the European Green Deal. I would also like to wish the Belgian presidency the very best in the continued negotiations on this directive. Thank you.”
Road transport environmental policy
- “Thank you, Chair. Portugal is committed to collective action to address climate change and to the effective implementation of the EU climate acquis, in particular the targets of climate neutrality by 2050, for which the revision of the ETS will play a decisive role. So for member states with smaller and more open industrial bases such as Portugal, ensuring predictability proportionately, proportionality and effective carbon leakage protection is not only an industrial concern but also a matter of cohesion and fairness within the single market. The recent update of the state aid guidelines for the compensation of indirect emission costs under the ETS also constitutes a particularly important and timely step to address pressure on electricity costs and to ensure a more level playing field conditions for energy intensive industries. And we are also, and as well, carefully analysing benchmarks for the next period, 26 to 13, particularly for more sensitive industries like ceramics and others, in order to have not a strong impact on their competitiveness. Thank you.”
Carbon leakage support
- “Thank you, Mary. And thank you, Commissioner, for the proposal. I will speak in Portuguese. On the first question the presidency put to us regarding the objective of simplification, predictability and appropriate capacity for and a strong governance. We conceded that we need simplification to reduce administrative burden and to not have overlaps and too many instruments, and to have a management that can handle changes in the short term where necessary. Bearing in mind what the Commission put forward, which is more linear, we think it's essential to ensure that there's enough flexibility with enough margin and reserves and special instruments, with enough funding and the right crisis management tools as well. We are encouraged by the commission approach to have more flexibility in the next MFF. However, this should not be at the expense of predictability for policies programmes and ensuring that their structural nature isn't undermined, but also for national budgets to be predictable. There's a steering mechanism the Commission has talked about for the budgetary process annually to be better worked out. We hope this won't lead to annual budgetary, uh, work being even more complicated and slower. On the second question are heading two. We don't want to question excellence as a criteria. It's fundamental for Portugal too.”
Conditions to access EU budget
- “Thank you. David. Portugal supports the point raised by Denmark. Our goal is to ensure competitiveness, sustainability, cohesion, and more production plus combating climate change is vital and that requires research and innovation and research, which we say could also lead to practical tangible results. One of the examples where this area is important has been referred to various times, and that is the new Genomic Techniques regulation, which is under discussion. It's a very good example of biotechnology being used to achieve the goals that I mentioned, and then there's a regulation that's been around since February the step regulation, and I do hope that there will be projects of this kind included within that, which I hope can under step be financed and which will contribute to our strategic autonomy. Thank you.”
New Genomic Techniques